On the short trip up I-20 to our turkey hunting property in New Holland, SC, my 11-year-old daughter Addison had two wishes for the day. The first was to hear a turkey gobble on the roost, and the second was to get breakfast from McDonald’s on the way home.
As we pulled up to the old red gate, Addison‘s PopPop, JR, hopped out of the truck and fulfilled his morning duties of gate keeper. We slowly drove our way down the rutted road along the edge of the field heading towards our normal parking spot as the sky was starting to show the blue and yellow hues of the sunrise to come. We quickly made our way across the field with Addison carrying her .410, and her PopPop carrying the decoys in tow.
With daylight quickly approaching I placed the decoys in a precise location in the edge of the field as my dad got Addison situated against a hickory tree tucked back in the makeshift blind we had built a few days prior. As the birds began to sing their morning songs, a few soft tree yelps produced a thundering gobble on the ridge that was directly ahead of us a few hundred yards away. The bird gobbled again immediately, and I saw Addison’s body tremble with excitement as she pointed in the direction of the gobble. Within a few minutes he was on the ground gobbling, what seemed to be every step he took. His gobbles led us to believe he was traveling the old road bed on the back of the property which ultimately makes its way to the corner of the field opposite of where we were set up. It couldn’t have been going any more text book, or so we thought.
The bird went silent.
A few moments later 3 coyotes popped out the corner of the field in the direction the bird was headed. Instant heartache. Addison said our hunt was over. I told her to be patient and maybe one of the coyotes would make it’s way to us in hopes of a shot at one. Six minutes after the coyotes disappeared into the thicket, the Tom appeared exactly where we thought he would. I let out a couple of soft yelps and he cut me off gobbling after the third one, and began his journey across the field. He slowly zigzagged his way, strutting and gobbling every 5 or 6 feet. What seemed like forever (to hear Addison’s version, it took him 2 hours) he finally made his way closer, but locked up at around 50 yards. He gobbled at our decoys like his life depended on it and wouldn’t budge. A few soft purrs reassured the overly excited boy as he began making his way a little closer, still strutting and gobbling. He crested a small ridge just to the right of the decoys at about 30 yards and locked up again. I proceeded to tell Addison to slowly get the gun on him, as I know 30 yards is no match for her and her Stevens M301 .410. He finally got in a position for her to make a clean shot but wouldn’t come out of strut. After a couple of sharp putts from my Southern Drawl Game Call, he gobbled one last time, and she dropped the hammer on her very first turkey. To be able to share this moment with my daughter AND my father made it so much better and will be a hunt we’ll remember forever. And of course she wouldn’t let me forget her McDonald’s breakfast on the way home!
Killed in New Holland, SC – Aiken County
18 pounds with a 9.5-inch beard and 1-inch spurs
March 25, 2023
Addison Shelby
James Shelby – Dad
JR Shelby – Addisons “PopPop” – all from Aiken, SC
–James Shelby
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Tag-A-Turkey
Congratulations to Addison, who is now entered in our 2023 Tag-A-Turkey Contest.
This makes her eligible for our grand prize, which includes a 3-year subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a Thermacell prize package, a Convergent Hunting Solutions Bullet HP Bluetooth predator call, a Millennium Field Pro Turkey Seat, and numerous other prizes.
If you’d like to enter your gobbler in our contest, click here.
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